Fact Check This: Super Tuesday Edition!
An almanack of trivia, miscellany, & phenomena for our times
Historians believe the first elections occurred in pre-Babylonian Mesopotamia, in a system they call ‘Mesopotamian Democracy’. Others disagree, calling it ‘primitive oligarchy’. This same argument played out last year, when researchers at Princeton released a study showing that America is now an oligarchy. This means we’ve been having the same arguments for over 5,000 years.
No candidate has ever promised to give out ponies if elected, except parody candidate Vermin Supreme, who received 43 votes in 2012, beating ‘Mickey Mouse’ nearly 4 to 1.
The utility of polls have always been debated; many worried that 60% response rates were too low in the 80s. Typical rates now are single-digit.
Maybe the polling rates aren’t that bad; only 45% of Americans vote in elections. Of the remaining 55%, 27% report they were too busy with work, 18% with family, 8% are “avoiding negativity”, 4% say “was that today?”, and the last 2% say “Your numbers are wrong, that’s 104%!” To these scoffers, I say, “Good day.”
This has been “Fact Check This” for the week of February 29th, 2016. Check back next week for another excerpt from from the upcoming work.
